CN111263347B

CN111263347B - Providing dedicated radio configuration to link budget limited user equipment at start-up

Info

Publication number: CN111263347B
Application number: CN202010068080.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: F·J·冈扎乐兹; R·L·瑞吾拉-巴罗图; R·C·马尔塔卡尔; S·V·万加拉; T·塔贝特
Original assignee: Apple Inc
Current assignee: Apple Inc
Priority date: 2016-05-31
Filing date: 2017-04-18
Publication date: 2023-01-06
Anticipated expiration: 2037-04-18
Also published as: US9986446B2; US20180242173A1; US20190274057A1; CN111263347A; EP3694251B1; EP3449684A1; JP2019524012A; KR20180131633A; US20170347278A1; WO2017209848A1; US10440593B2; JP6554241B1; KR20190028816A; CN109219983B; US10484894B2; EP3449684B1; EP3694251A1; CN109219983A; KR101959706B1

Abstract

To providing a dedicated radio configuration to a link budget limited user equipment at startup. Systems and methods for providing a dedicated radio configuration to a link budget limited device are disclosed. Prior to establishing a cellular connection with a cellular network, a user equipment device (UE), such as a link budget limited UE, may negotiate a dedicated radio configuration with the network by presenting requested profile information to the network and receiving back approved profile information from the network. The UE may perform these communications directly via a non-cellular communication connection with the network or indirectly via a companion device or proxy device. When the UE initiates a cellular connection with the network, both entities may use the information specified in the approved profile information, which may improve the efficiency of the connection. In some cases, the approved profile information may identify a device class to which the UE belongs. Approved profile information may also be used to establish connections with other devices of the same class.

Description

Providing dedicated radio configuration to link budget limited user equipment at start-up

The application is a divisional application of patent application 201780033608.6 entitled "providing dedicated radio configuration to a user equipment with limited link budget at startup", filed on 2017, 4, month 18.

Technical Field

The present application relates to wireless communications, including efficiently establishing cellular network connections for link budget limited cellular communication devices.

Background

The use of wireless communication systems is growing rapidly. In addition, wireless communication technologies have evolved from voice-only communications to transmissions that also include data, such as the internet and multimedia content.

The mobile electronic device may take the form of a smartphone or tablet computer that the user typically carries. A wearable device is a newer form of mobile electronic device, an example of which is a smart watch. Certain types of mobile electronic devices, such as wearable devices, typically have limited wireless communication capabilities and may only be able to communicate over a wired interface or short-range point-to-point technology. Wearable devices typically have a smaller battery than batteries of more portable devices such as smartphones and tablets. Wearable devices may also have different thermal characteristics than larger devices (e.g., due to their small size).

For wearable devices and other limited mobile devices, it is desirable to provide communication functionality similar to a smartphone. Thus, improvements in the art are desired.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of systems and associated methods are presented herein for, among other things, providing dedicated radio configurations to link budget limited user equipment, such as at startup.

Disclosed herein is a user equipment device (UE), the UE comprising: a cellular radio configured to communicate with a base station of a cellular communication network using a cellular communication protocol; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the cellular radio; and at least one memory. The at least one memory may store a device class identifier indicating that the UE belongs to a first device class. The at least one memory may also include software instructions executable by the at least one processor, wherein the software instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the UE to receive, from the cellular communication network, values of one or more cellular connection settings for a cellular connection between the UE and the base station, wherein the received values of the one or more cellular connection settings may be configured to improve efficiency of establishing a cellular connection between the base station and a device belonging to the first device class. The software instructions may be further executable to cause the UE to send a connection initiation request including the device class identifier to the base station to establish the cellular connection using the cellular connection settings based on values of the one or more cellular connection settings previously received from the cellular communication network.

In some embodiments, the UE may further include a non-cellular radio communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, the non-cellular radio configured to communicate with a cellular communication network using a non-cellular communication protocol. Receiving the values of the one or more cellular connection settings may be performed via a non-cellular radio component. The software instructions may be further executable to cause the UE to: transmitting the requested values of the one or more cellular connection settings to the cellular communication network via the non-cellular radio, wherein receiving the values is based on the requested values. In some cases, at least one of the approval values set for the first cellular connection may be the same as the request value set for the first cellular connection. In some cases, at least one of the approval values set for the first cellular connection may be different from the request value set for the first cellular connection.

In some embodiments, the UE may further include a non-cellular radio communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, the non-cellular radio configured to communicate with a companion device associated with the UE using a non-cellular communication protocol, wherein the companion device is configured to obtain values for the one or more cellular connection settings from the cellular communication network. Receiving the values of the one or more cellular connection settings may be performed via the companion device. The software instructions may be further executable to cause the UE to transmit the requested values of the one or more cellular connection settings to the companion device via the non-cellular radio, wherein receiving the values is based on the requested values.

The invention discloses a method for establishing a cellular network connection for a link budget limited cellular communication device. The link budget limited cellular communication device may transmit to the cellular communication network a request value for one or more cellular connection settings for a cellular connection between the cellular communication network and the link budget limited cellular communication device before sending the connection initiation request to the cellular communication network. The link budget limited cellular communication device may also receive an approval value set for one or more cellular connections from the cellular communication network before sending the connection initiation request to the cellular communication network. The link budget limited cellular communication device may further send a connection initiation request to the cellular communication network to establish a cellular connection using the cellular connection setup based on the approval value after said transmitting the request value and after said receiving the approval value.

In some embodiments, the approval value is determined by the cellular communication network in response to the cellular communication network receiving the requested value of the one or more cellular connection settings from the link budget limited cellular communication device.

In some cases, at least one of the approval values set for the first cellular connection may be the same as the request value set for the first cellular connection. In some cases, at least one of the approval values set for the first cellular connection may be different from the request value set for the first cellular connection.

In some embodiments, transmitting to the cellular communication network may include the link budget limited cellular communication device transmitting to a configuration server a request value for one or more cellular connection settings, and the configuration server transmitting to a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) the request value for one or more cellular connection settings. The approval value may be determined by the HSS.

In some embodiments, the request value may be selected to improve the efficiency of establishing a cellular connection between the cellular communication network and the link budget limited cellular communication device.

In some embodiments, said transmitting to and said receiving from the cellular communication network are performed via a non-cellular connection.

In some embodiments, said transmitting to and said receiving from the cellular communication network may be performed via a mobile device acting as a proxy for the link budget limited device, wherein the mobile device has a previously established cellular connection with the cellular communication network.

The invention discloses a base station of a cellular communication network, comprising: at least one radio configured to communicate with a user equipment device (UE); at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one radio; and at least one memory. The at least one memory may store a device class profile including an identifier of a device class and one or more cellular connection settings for configuring a cellular connection between the base station and a device of the identified device class. The at least one memory may further store software instructions for execution by the at least one processor, wherein the software instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the base station to: receiving, from a UE, a connection initiation request including an indication of a device class of the UE; determining whether the device class of the UE is the same as the device class identified by the device class profile; responsive to determining that the device class of the UE is the same as the device class identified by the device class profile, establishing a cellular connection with the UE using the one or more cellular connection settings of the device class profile; and responsive to determining that the device class of the UE is not the same as the device class identified by the device class profile, establishing a cellular connection with the UE without regard to the one or more cellular connection settings of the device class profile.

In some embodiments, the software instructions may further cause the base station to receive a device class profile from a core network of the cellular communication network prior to receiving the connection initiation request.

In some embodiments, the UE may be a link budget limited device, and the device class profile may be negotiated with the cellular communication network by a companion device associated with the UE prior to receiving the connection initiation request.

In some embodiments, one or more cellular connection settings may be configured to improve the efficiency of establishing a cellular connection between a base station and a UE.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory may also store a second device class profile including an identifier of a second device class, the second device class different from the first device class. The second device class profile may also include one or more cellular connection settings for configuring a cellular connection between the base station and the identified device of the second device class.

This summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described in this document. Thus, it should be understood that the above-described features are merely examples, and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the claims.

Drawings

A better understanding of the present subject matter may be obtained when the following detailed description of the embodiments is considered in conjunction with the following drawings.

Fig. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system including a secondary wireless device, in accordance with some embodiments;

fig. 2 illustrates an example system in which a secondary wireless device can selectively communicate directly with a cellular base station or utilize the cellular capabilities of an intermediary or proxy device, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary secondary wireless device according to some embodiments;

fig. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example base station in accordance with some embodiments;

fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary operations of a link budget limited device for negotiating a dedicated radio configuration for the link budget limited device, in accordance with some embodiments; and

fig. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating exemplary operations of a companion device for negotiating a dedicated radio configuration for a link budget limited device according to some embodiments.

While the features described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims.

As used herein, the term "configured to" connotes structure by indicating that a unit/circuit/component includes structure (e.g., a circuit) that performs one or more tasks during operation. As such, the cells/circuits/components may be configured to perform this task even when the specified cell/circuit/component is not currently operable (e.g., not turned on). The means/circuitry/components used with the phrase "configured to" includes hardware-e.g., circuitry, memory storing program instructions executable to perform operations, and so on. It is expressly intended that no reference to a unit/circuit/component being "configured to" perform one or more tasks is made to the interpretation of 35u.s.c. § 112 (f) for that unit/circuit/component.

Detailed Description

Is incorporated by reference

The following documents contain subject matter that is relevant to the present disclosure and are hereby incorporated by reference as if fully disclosed herein. 3GPP TS 23.203V.13.7.0;3GPP TS 36.211V.13.1.0;

acronyms

The following acronyms are used in this disclosure:

3GPP: third generation partnership project

3GPP2: third generation partnership project 2

eSIM: embedded SIM

GSM: global mobile communication system

HSS: home subscriber server

ICCID: integrated circuit card identifier

IMSI: international mobile subscriber identity

LTE: long term evolution

And (3) LTE-A: LTE-advanced

MME: mobility management entity

SIM: user identity module

UMTS: universal mobile telecommunications system

Term(s)

The following is a glossary of terms used in this disclosure:

memory medium-any of various types of non-transitory memory devices or storage devices. The term "storage medium" is intended to include mounting media such as CD-ROM, floppy disk, or tape devices; computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, rambus RAM, etc.; non-volatile memory such as flash memory, magnetic media, e.g., a hard disk drive or optical storage; registers, or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may also include other types of non-transitory memory or combinations thereof. Further, the memory medium may be located in a first computer system executing the program, or may be located in a different second computer system connected to the first computer system through a network such as the internet. In the latter case, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer for execution. The term "memory medium" may include two or more memory media that may reside at different locations in different computer systems that are connected, for example, by a network. The memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., embodied as a computer program) that are executable by one or more processors.

Carrier media-memory media as described above, and physical transmission media such as a bus, network, and/or other physical transmission media that conveys signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals.

Programmable hardware elements-include various hardware devices that include a plurality of programmable functional blocks connected via programmable interconnects. Examples include FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), PLDs (programmable logic devices), FPOAs (field programmable object arrays), and CPLDs (complex PLDs). Programmable function blocks can range from fine grained (combinatorial logic units or look-up tables) to coarse grained (arithmetic logic units or processor cores). The programmable hardware elements may also be referred to as "configurable logic components".

Computer system-any of various types of computing systems or processing systems, including Personal Computer Systems (PCs), mainframe computer systems, workstations, network appliances, internet appliances, personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), television systems, grid computing systems, or other devices, or combinations of devices. In general, the term "computer system" may be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

User Equipment (UE) (or "UE device") -any of various types of computer system devices that are mobile or portable and perform wireless communications. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smart phones (e.g., iphones) ^TM Based on Android ^TM Telephone), portable gaming devices (e.g., nintendo DS) ^TM 、PlayStation Portable ^TM 、Gameboy Advance ^TM 、iPhone ^TM ) A laptop, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, smart glasses), a PDA, a portable internet device, a music player, a data storage device, or other handheld device, etc. In general, the term "UE" or "UE device" may be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing, and/or telecommunications device (or combination of devices) that is easily communicated by a user and capable of wireless communication.

Base station-the term "base station" (also referred to as "eNB") has its full width in its ordinary sense and includes at least wireless communication stations installed at fixed locations and used for communicating as part of a wireless cellular communication system.

Processing element-refers to various elements or combinations of elements. The processing elements include, for example, circuitry such as an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), portions or circuits of various processor cores, an entire processor core, various processors, programmable hardware devices such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and/or larger portions of a system that includes multiple processors.

Auto-refers to an action or operation performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by a computer system) or a device (e.g., a circuit, programmable hardware element, ASIC, etc.) without user input directly specifying or performing the action or operation. Thus, the term "automatically" is in contrast to a user manually performing or specifying an operation, wherein the user provides input to directly perform the operation. An automatic process may be initiated by input provided by a user, but subsequent actions performed "automatically" are not specified by the user, i.e., are not performed "manually," where the user specifies each action to be performed. For example, a user fills out an electronic form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing information, selecting check boxes, radio selection, etc.) to manually fill out the form, even though the computer system must update the form in response to user action. The form may be automatically filled in by a computer system, wherein the computer system (e.g., software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills in the form without any user entering answers specifying the fields. As indicated above, the user may invoke automatic filling of the form, but not participate in the actual filling of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify answers for the fields but rather they are automatically completed). This specification provides various examples of operations that are performed automatically in response to actions that have been taken by a user.

Link budget limitation-including its full width in common meaning and including at least the characteristics of a wireless device (UE) that exhibits limited communication capabilities or limited power relative to devices that are not link budget limited devices or relative to devices that have developed Radio Access Technology (RAT) standards. A link budget limited UE may experience relatively limited reception and/or transmission capabilities, which may be due to one or more factors such as device design, device size, battery size, antenna size or design, transmission power, reception power, current transmission medium conditions, and/or other factors. Such devices may be referred to herein as "link budget limited" (or "link budget constrained") devices. The device may be inherently link budget limited due to the size, battery power, and/or transmit/receive power of the device. For example, a smart watch communicating with a base station over LTE or LTE-a may be inherently link budget limited due to its reduced transmit/receive power and/or reduced antennas. Wearable devices such as smart watches are generally link budget limited devices. Alternatively, the device may not be inherently link budget limited, e.g., may have sufficient size, battery power, and/or transmit/receive power for normal communication over LTE or LTE-a, but may be temporarily link budget limited due to current communication conditions, e.g., a smartphone is at a cell edge, etc. It should be noted that the term "link budget limited" includes or encompasses power limitations, and thus a power limited device may be considered a link budget limited device.

Fig. 1-2-wireless communication system

Fig. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless cellular communication system. It should be noted that fig. 1 represents one of many possibilities, and the features of the present disclosure may be implemented by any of a variety of systems as desired.

As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a cellular base station 102A that communicates with one or more wireless devices 106A,106B, etc. and an auxiliary wireless device 107 (also referred to as an accessory device) via a transmission medium. The

wireless devices

106A,106B, and 107 may be user devices, which may be referred to herein as "user equipments" (UEs) or UE devices.

The base station 102 may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) or a cell site and may include hardware to enable wireless communication with the UE devices 106a,106b, and 107. The base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with a network 100 (e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunications network such as a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and/or the internet, among various possibilities). Thus, base station 102 may facilitate communication between UE device 106 and UE device 107 and/or between UE device 106/UE device 107 and network 100. In other implementations, the base station 102 may be configured to provide communication over one or more other wireless technologies, such as an access point supporting one or more WLAN protocols, such as 802.11a, b, g, n, ac, ad, and/or ax, or LTE in unlicensed bands (LAA).

The communication area (or coverage area) of a base station 102 may be referred to as a "cell". Base station 102 and UEs 106/107 may be configured to communicate over a transmission medium using any of a variety of Radio Access Technologies (RATs) or wireless communication technologies such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA, TDS-CDMA), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), HSPA, 3gpp2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), wi-Fi, wiMAX, etc.

Thus, base station 102, as well as other similar base stations (not shown) operating in accordance with one or more cellular communication technologies, may be provided as a network of cells that may provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping service to UE devices 106A-B and UE device 107, and the like, over a wide geographic area via one or more cellular communication technologies.

It is noted that, at least in some cases, a UE device 106/107 may be capable of communicating using any of a variety of wireless communication techniques. For example, the UE device 106/UE device 107 may be configured to communicate using one or more of GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, wiMAX, LTE-a, WLAN, bluetooth, one or more global navigation satellite systems (GNSS, such as GPS or GLONASS), one and/or more mobile television broadcast standards (e.g., ATSC-M/H), and/or the like. Other combinations of wireless communication technologies, including more than two wireless communication technologies, are also possible. Likewise, in some cases, a UE device 106/107 may be configured to communicate using only a single wireless communication technology.

UE 106A and UE106B are typically handheld devices, such as smart phones or tablets, but may be any of a variety of types of devices having cellular communication capabilities. The UE106B may be configured to communicate with a UE device 107, which may be referred to as a secondary wireless device 107 (or accessory device). The secondary wireless device 107 may be any of various types of devices, such as a wearable device, a tablet computing device, a laptop computer, or a handheld device. In some cases, the secondary wireless device 107 may have a smaller form factor and/or may be link budget limited; for example, the secondary wireless device may have limited battery, output power, and/or communication capabilities with respect to the UE 106. As one common embodiment, the UE106B may be a smartphone carried by a user and the secondary wireless device 107 may be a smart watch worn and/or owned by the same user. The UE106B and the secondary wireless device 107 may communicate using any of a variety of short-range communication protocols, such as bluetooth, for example.

The secondary wireless device 107 includes cellular communication capabilities and is thus capable of communicating directly with the cellular base station 102. However, since the secondary wireless device 107 may be one or more of communication, output power, and/or battery limited, the secondary wireless device 107 may, in some cases, selectively utilize the UE106B as a proxy for communication purposes with the base station 102, and thus with the network 100. In other words, the secondary wireless device 107 may selectively use the cellular communication capabilities of the UE106B for its cellular communication. The restrictions on the communication capabilities of the secondary wireless device 107 may be permanent, e.g., due to limitations in output power or supported Radio Access Technologies (RATs), or temporary, e.g., due to conditions such as current battery conditions, inability to access the network, or poor reception.

In some embodiments, the UE106B and/or the secondary wireless device 107 may be configured to implement features for negotiating and/or using a dedicated radio configuration for a link budget limited user device, as described herein.

Fig. 2 illustrates an exemplary secondary wireless device 107 in communication with a base station 102. The secondary wireless device 107 may be a wearable device such as a smart watch. The secondary wireless device 107 may include cellular communication capabilities and may be capable of communicating directly with the base station 102 as shown. The secondary wireless device 107 may also communicate with another device (e.g., the UE 106), for example, using a short-range communication protocol, such as Wi-Fi or bluetooth.

The secondary wireless device 107 is also able to communicate with another device (e.g., the UE 106), referred to as a proxy device or intermediary device, using a short-range communication protocol, and may then use the cellular functionality of the proxy device for cellular voice/data communications with the base station 102. In other words, the secondary wireless device 107 may provide voice/data packets intended for the base station 102 to the UE106 over the short-range link, and the UE106 may use its cellular functionality to transmit (or relay) the voice/data to the base station on behalf of the secondary wireless device 107. Similarly, voice/data packets transmitted by the base station and intended for the secondary wireless device 107 may be received by the cellular functionality of the UE106 and may then be relayed to the secondary wireless device over the short-range link. As noted above, the UE106 may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, or any other type of handheld device, a media player, a computer, a laptop, or virtually any type of wireless device.

The secondary wireless device 107 may include a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in a memory. The secondary wireless device 107 may perform any of the method embodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or additionally, the secondary wireless device 107 may include programmable hardware elements, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or other circuitry configured to perform any of the method embodiments described herein or any portion of any of the method embodiments described herein. For example, the secondary wireless device 107 may be configured to perform a dynamic multi-SIM configuration as described herein.

The secondary wireless device 107 may include one or more antennas for communicating using two or more wireless communication protocols or radio access technologies. In some embodiments, the secondary wireless device 107 may be configured to communicate using a single shared radio. The shared radio may be coupled to a single antenna or may be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communications. Alternatively, the secondary wireless device 107 may include two or more radios. For example, the secondary wireless device 107 may include a shared radio for communicating using either LTE (or LTE-advanced) or bluetooth, and may include a separate radio for communicating using each of LTE-advanced and bluetooth. Other configurations are also possible.

The secondary wireless device 107 may be any of various types of devices, which in some embodiments have a small form factor relative to a conventional smartphone, and may have one or more of limited communication capabilities, limited output power, or limited battery life relative to a conventional smartphone. As described above, in some embodiments, the secondary wireless device 107 may be a smart watch or other type of wearable device. As another example, the secondary wireless device 107 may be a tablet device, such as an iPad.

FIG. 3-exemplary Block diagram of an auxiliary Wireless device

Fig. 3 illustrates one possible block diagram of the secondary wireless device 107. As shown, the secondary wireless device 107 may include a system on a chip (SOC) 300, which may include portions for various purposes. For example, as shown, SOC 300 may include one or more processors 302 and display circuitry 304, with one or more processors 302 executing program instructions for assisting wireless device 107, and display circuitry 304 executing graphics processing and providing display signals to display 360. The one or more processors 302 may also be coupled to a Memory Management Unit (MMU) 340, which Memory Management Unit (MMU) 340 may be configured to receive addresses from the one or more processors 302 and translate the addresses to those of locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read Only Memory (ROM) 350, flash memory 310). MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protections and page table translations or settings. In some embodiments, MMU 340 may be included as part of one or more processors 302.

The secondary wireless device 107 may also include other circuits or devices, such as a display circuit 304, a radio 330, a connector I/F320, and/or a display 340. The wireless device 107 may also include one or more smart cards 370, such as one or more UICCs (universal integrated circuit cards), with SIM (subscriber identity module) functionality.

In the illustrated embodiment, the ROM 350 may include a boot loader that is executable by the one or more processors 302 during start-up or initialization. Additionally, as shown, the SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuitry of the secondary wireless device 107. For example, the secondary wireless device 107 may include various types of memory, a connector interface 320 (e.g., for coupling to a computer system), a display 360, and wireless communication circuitry (e.g., for communication using LTE, CDMA2000, bluetooth, wi-Fi, NFC, GPS, etc.).

The secondary wireless device 107 may include at least one antenna, and in some embodiments, multiple antennas, for performing wireless communications with base stations and/or other devices. For example, the secondary wireless device 107 may perform wireless communications using the antenna 335. As noted above, a UE may be configured in some embodiments to wirelessly communicate using multiple wireless communication standards or Radio Access Technologies (RATs).

As described above, the secondary wireless device 107 may include at least one smart card 370, such as a UICC, that executes one or more Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) applications and/or otherwise implements SIM functionality. The at least one smart card 370 may be only a single smart card 370 or the secondary wireless device 107 may include two or more smart cards 370.

Each smart card 370 may be embedded, for example, soldered to a circuit board in the secondary wireless device 107, or each smart card 370 may be implemented as a removable smart card. Thus, the one or more smart cards 370 may be one or more removable smart cards (such as a UICC sometimes referred to as a "SIM card"), and/or the one or more smart cards 370 may be one or more embedded cards that are fixed/non-removable (such as an embedded UICC (eUICC) sometimes referred to as an "eSIM card"). In some embodiments, the secondary wireless device 107 may include a combination of a removable smart card and an embedded smart card, as desired. For example, the UE106 may include two embedded smart cards 370, two removable smart cards 370, or a combination of one embedded smart card 370 and one removable smart card 370. Various other SIM configurations are also contemplated.

In some embodiments, one or more smart cards 370 may implement embedded SIM (eSIM) functionality. In such an embodiment, one of the one or more smart cards 370 may execute multiple SIMs. esims can execute on an eUICC or a removable UICC, so long as the operating system of the card supports eSIM functionality.

Each smart card 370 may include components such as a processor and/or memory. Instructions for performing SIM/eSIM functions may be stored in the memory and executed by the processor.

As described herein, the secondary wireless device 107 may include hardware components and software components for implementing methods in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the secondary wireless device 107 may include hardware and software components for implementing features to negotiate and/or utilize a dedicated radio configuration for a link budget limited user device, as described herein with particular reference to fig. 5-6. The processor 302 of the secondary wireless device 107 may be configured to implement some or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). In other embodiments, the processor 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), or as an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit).

It should be noted that the UE 106A and the UE106B shown in fig. 1 may have an architecture similar to that described above.

FIG. 4-exemplary block diagram of a base station

Fig. 4 shows an exemplary block diagram of the base station 102. It is noted that the base station of fig. 4 is only one example of possible base stations. As shown, base station 102 may include one or more processors 450 that may execute program instructions for base station 102. One or more processors 450 may also be coupled to a Memory Management Unit (MMU) 455, which may be configured to receive addresses from one or more processors 450 and translate the addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and Read Only Memory (ROM) 465) or other circuitry or devices.

The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. The network port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide access to the telephone network to a plurality of devices, such as the UE device 106 and the secondary wireless device 107, as described above in fig. 1 and 2.

The network port 470 (or additional network ports) may also or alternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, such as a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and/or other services to a plurality of devices, such as UE device 106 and secondary wireless device 107. In some cases, the network port 470 may be coupled to a telephone network via a core network, and/or the core network may provide the telephone network (e.g., in other UE devices served by a cellular service provider).

Base station 102 may include at least one antenna 475 and possibly multiple antennas. The at least one antenna 475 may be configured to function as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with the UE apparatus 106 and/or the secondary wireless device 107 via the radio 480. The antenna 475 communicates with the radio 480 via a communication link 485. The communication chain 485 may be a receive chain, a transmit chain, or both. The radio 480 may be configured to communicate via various wireless telecommunication standards including, but not limited to, LTE-a, UMTS, CDMA2000, and the like.

In some cases, additional network devices within the cellular network (e.g., the MME, HSS, and/or configuration server of fig. 5-6) may have a structure similar to base station 102 as shown in fig. 4, except that the additional network devices may lack components for radio communication in some cases (e.g., antenna 475, radio 480, and/or communication chain 485). For example, additional network devices may include processor 450, memory Management Unit (MMU) 455, memory 460, read Only Memory (ROM) 465, and/or network port 470, as described in fig. 4 and above.

As described further herein later, BS 102, as well as the various network devices of fig. 5-6, may include hardware and software components for implementing features to negotiate and/or provide dedicated radio configurations to link budget limited user devices, as described herein, particularly with reference to fig. 5-6. The processor 450 of the base station 102 may be configured to implement a portion or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, the processor 450 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or as an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) or a combination thereof. Alternatively (or in addition), processor 450 of BS 102, in conjunction with one or more of the

other components

455, 460, 465, 470, 475, 480, 485, may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein, such as those described herein with particular reference to fig. 5-6.

Optimization of cellular connection establishment

A cellular communication device (e.g., UE), such as UE106 or secondary wireless device 107, may attach to a cellular communication network via a base station, such as base station 102. For example, the UE may attach to the LTE network according to Random Access Procedures (RAPs) defined for the standard. This may occur, for example, if the UE is activated. During the attach procedure, the UE may exchange messages with the cellular communication network (e.g., with a base station of the cellular communication network, such as an eNodeB). For example, the attach procedure may typically be initiated by the UE sending a connection initiation request to the cellular communication network. For example, a UE may initiate an attachment to an LTE network by sending an initial attach request, sometimes referred to as message 1 (MSG 1). Other cellular communication networks may use other formats and named connection initiation requests.

Some link budget limited devices, such as the secondary wireless device 107, may be capable of executing applications that were traditionally executed only by less limited UEs. For example, a link budget limited smart watch may be capable of cellular voice communication. However, low power transmitters are traditionally associated with low priority and/or low data rate applications such as embedded sensors. Thus, in conventional systems, the cellular communication network may identify the link-budget limited device as a low-power transmitter and may thus set the parameters for connecting with the link-budget limited device based on the assumption that the link-budget limited device requires little network resources. Thus, link budget limited devices may be hampered when executing high priority, high data rate applications.

Additionally, in conventional systems, the cellular communication network may be optimized for less constrained UE performance. Thus, when connecting to a cellular communication network, a link budget limited device may encounter difficulties even if provided with the same resources as a less limited UE. For example, a link budget limited device may have much lower battery power than a legacy UE, or may have a low maximum transmission power, e.g., due to battery and/or antenna limitations. However, the cellular communication network may optimize connection parameters (e.g., NAT session timeout, qoS parameters) based on the assumption that the UE will have more traditional battery power and transmission power.

For these reasons, it may be advantageous to communicate to the cellular communication network minimum or optimal parameters for connecting with the link budget limited device.

To accomplish this, a UE (e.g., a link budget limited device) may identify its device class (also referred to as device type or device class) to the cellular communication network, for example, in a connection initiation request. The cellular communication network may store a device class profile that specifies connection settings and/or other parameters that are desirable (e.g., optimized) for a given device class. When the UE requests to attach to the cellular communication network and identifies its device class, the cellular communication network may establish a cellular connection with the UE using connection settings and/or other parameters specified in the device class profile for the device class identified by the UE. Alternatively, the cellular communication network may store a device profile specifying such parameters that are desirable for a particular UE, and the cellular communication network may establish a cellular connection with the particular UE using the parameters specified in the device profile for that UE.

The following are exemplary parameters that may be specified in a device class profile in an LTE cellular communication network. It should be understood that these are merely examples and that other parameters and/or other cellular communication networks may be applied within the scope of the present disclosure.

Device classification: the device class parameter may identify a device class with which the device class profile is associated. For example, the device class value "watch" may identify the UE as (or including, or included in) a smart watch; the device class value "glasses" may identify the UE as smart glasses; the device class value "phone" may identify the UE as a traditional cellular phone or smartphone. If the UE identifies itself as having a device class value that matches the device class value of the device class profile, the cellular communication network may apply the parameters stored in the device class profile to establish a cellular connection with the UE.

NAT timer: the NAT timer parameter may specify a minimum value for the cellular communication network to assign as a Network Address Translation (NAT) session timeout value for a connection using the device class profile. The NAT session timeout value assigned by the cellular communication network defines an inactivity time after which the NAT connection will be terminated. Therefore, a shorter NAT session timeout value requires the UE to be active more frequently on the connection to avoid termination of the NAT connection, which means that a shorter NAT session timeout value causes increased UE power consumption. Thus, the UE may benefit from a longer NAT session timeout value.

In conventional systems, the NAT session timeout values used by the cellular communication network may not be known to the UE when the UE attaches to the cellular communication network. Thus, the UE may guess the NAT session timeout value and based on the guessed timeout value, activate frequently enough on connection to avoid NAT session timeout. The UE may then incrementally adjust its guess to attempt to minimize its required activity without losing the NAT connection. This guessing and adjusting process may cause the UE to break the NAT connection one or more times and may also cause the UE to engage in unnecessarily high rate activities while searching for the correct value. Thus, the UE, and in particular the link budget limited (e.g., power limited) device, may benefit from knowing in advance the NAT session timeout values used by the cellular communication network, or at least the minimum NAT session timeout values used by the cellular communication network.

In addition, bearers that typically assign NAT session timeout values globally to network firewalls are tolerant of the stretching timer because it limits their IP pool. However, by utilizing a device class profile or device profile, the cellular communication network may assign a NAT session timeout value for a particular device or class of devices (e.g., a link budget limited class such as a smartwatch) that is equal to or greater than a minimum value specified by a NAT timer parameter included in the associated profile, while possibly assigning different (e.g., shorter) NAT session timeout values for other devices.

Thus, the NAT timer parameter can be used to specify a desired (e.g., optimized) value for the identified device class without significantly impacting the performance of the cellular communication network.

RACH preamble: the RACH preamble parameter may identify a reserved preamble for the identified device class. The preamble is contained in MSG1 of the RACH procedure. The available preambles are enumerated from 0 to 63. The preamble reserved for the identified device class may be helpful for the cellular communication network, and in particular the eNB, to identify the UE as a link budget limited device early in the attach procedure. This early identification may then enable special processing, whether in terms of resources, link budget, or latency.

In addition, there may be advantages to using higher numbered preambles. For example, higher numbered preambles may have a different format than lower numbered preambles such that the higher numbered preambles may have improved detection at lower signal-to-noise ratios. In conventional systems, the cellular communication network may not permit link budget limited devices to use such higher numbered preambles, based on the assumption that low power UEs may be associated with low priority and/or low data rate applications. In contrast, cellular communication networks may traditionally allow UEs expecting higher priority applications, such as voice communication, to use a larger range of preambles. Thus, when the device class represents a class of link budget limited devices (e.g., a voice over cellular enabled smart watch) that are expected to execute higher priority applications, it may be advantageous for this type of UE to be authorized to use the higher numbered reserved preambles specified by the RACH preamble parameters.

The RACH preamble used in conventional systems is more fully disclosed in 3gpp TS 36.211v.13.1.0, which was previously incorporated by reference.

QoS: the QoS parameters, which in some cases may include an array or other set of parameters, may identify requested quality of service (QoS) metrics for an identified device class. For example, the QoS parameters may include a QoS Class Identifier (QCI) parameter that identifies a traffic class that may be used by the identified device class. QCI values used in conventional systems are more fully disclosed in 3gpp TS 23.203v.13.7.0, which is incorporated by reference above. The QoS parameters may also include additional parameters associated with the communication traffic class specified by the identified device class QCI parameters. The QoS parameters may also include a minimum bit rate, a delay value, and/or a jitter value, for example.

For example, if the identified device class is expected to perform conversational voice communication, the QoS parameters may include QCI parameters that specify QCI 1. The QoS parameters may also include additional parameters (e.g., a minimum bit rate, a delay value, and/or a jitter value) requested for conversational voice communication transmitted between the cellular communication network and the UE of the identified device class. For example, the additional parameter may represent a value optimized for conversational voice communication or represent a minimum requirement for conversational voice communication. When the cellular communication network exchanges conversational voice data with the UE, the cellular communication network may configure the connection according to the QCI1 and the additional parameters. For example, the cellular communication network may utilize a priority 2, a packet delay budget of 100ms, and a packet loss rate of 10 as specified by QCI1 ^-2 To configure the connection, the cellular communication network may further configure the connection with a minimum bit rate, delay value, jitter value, etc. specified by the additional parameters of the device class profile.

In some cases, the QoS parameters may also include one or more additional QCI parameters, which may have corresponding additional parameters. For example, if the identified device class is expected to perform TCP-based data communications, the QoS parameters in the above embodiments may also include a second QCI parameter for QCI9, and a second additional requested for TCP-based data communications transmitted between the cellular communication network and the UE of the identified device classPlus a parameter (e.g., a second minimum bit rate, a delay value, and/or a jitter value). When the cellular communication network exchanges TCP-based data with the UE, the cellular communication network may configure the connection according to the QCI9 and the second additional parameter. For example, the cellular communication network may utilize a priority 9, a packet delay budget 300ms, and a packet loss rate 10 specified by the QCI9 ^-6 To configure the connection, the cellular communication network may further configure the connection using a specified second minimum bit rate, delay value, jitter value, etc.

In some cases, the QoS parameters may include additional QCI parameters and related additional parameters for any traffic classes defined in the LTE standard (or other standard defining an applicable cellular communication network). Thus, the device class profile may define QoS parameters for each traffic class or for any subset thereof that the device of the identified device class is expected to use.

In some cases, for any traffic class contained in the configuration file, the cellular communication network may configure a connection between the cellular communication network and the UE in the identified device class according to parameters specified in the device class configuration file, and for any traffic class not included in the configuration file, the parameters may be selected according to conventional procedures. In other cases, the cellular communication network may configure a connection between the cellular communication network and the UE solely according to the traffic class value contained in the configuration file.

Defining QoS parameters for one or more QCI values may improve the efficiency and performance of communications between the UE and the cellular communication network. For example, in some conventional systems, cellular communication networks typically apply QCI1 for voice calls (e.g., voLTE) and QCI9 for all other data communications, with no further distinction between applications that utilize communications. This means that a connection supporting high data rate communication, e.g. video conferencing, can be configured with the same parameters as low data rate communication, e.g. web browsing. However, if a class of devices is expected to execute primarily a known application, the device class's profile may specify parameters that are desired (e.g., optimized or minimum requirements) for the application.

As described above, in some cases, the cellular communication network may also store a device profile for a particular device (e.g., a particular link budget limited device) as opposed to or in addition to storing a device class profile. A device class profile may be applicable to multiple devices of a certain class, while a device profile may only be applicable to a particular device. For example, the device profile may include parameters, such as those described above, that are applicable to a connection between the cellular communication network and a particular device.

FIG. 5-Generation of a Profile by a Link budget Limited device

A profile, such as a device class profile or a device profile as discussed above, may be stored by the cellular communication network before the UE to which the profile applies initiates attachment. Thus, the UE may attach to the cellular communication network using the parameters specified in the applicable configuration file, which may facilitate the attachment procedure.

Fig. 5 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a wireless communication system in which a link budget limited device may negotiate device class profiles and/or device profiles directly with a cellular communication network.

Fig. 5 shows a UE402, a Base Station (BS) 404, a configuration server 406, a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 408, and a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 410. The UE402 may be a link budget limited device, such as the secondary wireless device 107. The BS404 may be a base station such as base station 102. The configuration server 406 (also sometimes referred to as an authorization server) may include one or more server devices configured to provide integration with core network components of a cellular wireless network. For example, the configuration server 406 may be configured to provide information regarding whether a particular service (e.g., wireless call, personal hotspot) is available to the user device or a device associated with the user account. The configuration server 406 may be hosted by a carrier, such as a cellular service provider, or by a proxy for the carrier, or by another entity. HSS408 and MME410 may comprise one or more server devices in the core network.

The UE402 may be capable of performing cellular communication via the BS 404. However, attaching to the BS404 according to legacy procedures may cause the UE402 to consume undesirable time and/or power for reasons such as those previously noted.

The UE402 may also communicate according to one or more non-cellular wireless communication protocols, such as one or more Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) protocols (e.g., wi-Fi protocols). In some cases, the UE402 may communicate with the configuration server 406 according to one or more non-cellular wireless communication protocols (e.g., via one or more intermediate networks, such as a Wi-Fi network and/or the internet). Thus, the UE402 may negotiate a device profile or device class profile with the cellular communication network using a non-cellular protocol before attaching to the BS 404. The UE402 may negotiate the profile prior to transmitting a connection initiation request, such as MSG1, or otherwise establishing a cellular connection with the cellular communication network.

Specifically, at communication 420, UE402 may transmit the requested profile information to provisioning server 406 using a non-cellular protocol, e.g., directly or through one or more intermediate networks. The requested profile information may include a requested value for one or more cellular connection settings for a cellular connection between the cellular communication network and the UE402, as described above. In some cases, the requested profile information may define a device class profile that can be applicable to the device class to which the UE402 belongs. In some cases, the requested profile information may alternatively or additionally define a device profile that may be applicable only to the UE 402. In some cases, the requested profile information may include an indication of a profile type; for example, the requested profile information may include an indication of whether the requested profile information defines a device profile or a device class profile. In some cases, the presence of a particular field or value within the requested profile information may indicate the profile type. For example, in some cases, the presence of a device class parameter in the requested profile information may indicate that the requested profile information defines a device class profile, while the absence of a device class parameter may indicate that the requested profile information defines a device profile.

An exemplary data format for communication 420, including the requested configuration file information defining the device class configuration file, is provided below in the JavaScript object notation (JSON) Schema 1. It should be understood that the schema provided is merely an example and that other data formats and/or other data fields may be used within the scope of the present disclosure.

Schema 1

At communication 422, the configuration server 406 may transmit the requested profile information, or some subset thereof, to the HSS 408. Communication 422 can be responsive to the configuration server 406 receiving communication 420. In some cases, for example, at communication 422, the configuration server 406 may also provide other information about the user account. For example, the configuration server 406 may identify additional devices associated with the same user account as the UE 402. Such additional cellular communication devices may be referred to as being in the same account family as the UE 402. For example, in some cases, if a user of the UE402 owns a customer account for which the cellular service provider allows the service provider to provide cellular service to the UE402, and which also allows the service provider to provide cellular service to additional cellular communication devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, etc.), the additional cellular communication devices may be considered to be in the same account family as the UE402, and the configuration server 406 may provide information about the sameThe identification information of the cellular communication device is appended. As another example, in some cases, if the additional cellular communication devices are based on, for example, shared iCloud ^TM Another type of shared user account, such as an account, is associated with the UE402, then the additional cellular communication device may also be considered to be in the same account family as the UE 402.

In some cases, the configuration server 406 may identify additional devices associated with the same user account as the UE402 (i.e., in the account family of the UE 402) that are also in the same device class as the UE 402.

Responsive to receiving communication 422, hss408 may evaluate the requested profile information and determine approved profile information. For example, the HSS may determine whether to accept the requested value of the one or more cellular connection settings as an approved value for the one or more cellular connection settings. The HSS408 may make the determination based on one or more factors such as network capabilities, available resources, power characteristics, and/or link budget requirements of the UE 402. In particular, the approved profile information may include an approval value for each of one or more cellular connection settings, or some subset thereof, for which the requested values are included in the requested profile information. In some cases, the approval value set for a given cellular connection may be the same as the request value set for the same cellular connection. In some cases, the approval value set for a given cellular connection may be different from the request value set for the same cellular connection. In this way, HSS408 may indicate whether the cellular communication network is to establish a cellular connection according to the requested value of the cellular connection setting, or to use an alternative value instead.

In some cases, the approved profile information may also include approved values for one or more additional cellular connection settings for which requested values are not included in the requested profile information. For example, the approved profile information may include approved values for a set of PRACH configuration parameters that may identify subframes to be used for RACH and/or other PRACH configuration values, such as a number of repetitions needed, a root sequence used, a power ramp-up, and so on.

HSS408 may save the approved profile information as a device profile or device class profile, e.g., based on information included in the requested profile information. For example, the approved profile information may be saved as a device profile associated with the UE 402. In particular, the device profile may be associated with the UE402 by including a device identifier (e.g., IMSI, IMEI, or device ID) of the UE402, which may be provided in communication 422 and, in some cases, communication 420. Similarly, approved profile information may be saved as a device class profile associated with the device class identified in the requested profile information, for example, by including device class parameters in the profile. In some cases, the saved configuration file may further include account family information, e.g., provided by configuration server 406. For example, the saved configuration file may include identification information and/or device class information about other devices in the account family. In such a case, the saved configuration file may be associated with all devices included in the account family. Alternatively, the saved profile may be associated with all devices in the account family having a device class that matches the device class identified in the requested profile information.

After determining the approved profile information (e.g., in response to determining the approved profile information), HSS408 may transmit the approved profile information to provisioning server 406 at communication 424. HSS408 may also transmit the approved profile information to MME410 at communication 430. At communication 432, the MME410 may communicate the approved profile information to the BS404 for establishing a cellular connection with the UE 402. For example, in some embodiments, MME410 may communicate approved profile information to each BS associated with the MME.

In response to the configuration server 406 receiving the communication 424, the configuration server 406 can transmit the approved-profile information, or some subset thereof, to the UE402 at communication 426. Communication 426 may be according to a non-cellular protocol (e.g., the same protocol as used for communication 420).

An exemplary data format for communication 426, including approved profile information defining a device class profile, is provided in the JSON mode Schema 2 below. It should be understood that the schema provided is merely an example and that other data formats and/or other data fields may be used within the scope of the present disclosure.

Schema 2

Once the UE402 has received the approved profile information in communication 426, the UE402 may initiate an attach procedure to establish a cellular connection with the cellular wireless network. For example, the UE402 may initiate an attach procedure by sending a connection initialization request 440 (e.g., MSG 1) to the BS 404.

The UE402 may include an identifier in the connection initiation request 440 that associates the UE402 with the saved profile. For example, if the saved profile is a device profile associated with the UE402, the UE402 may include a device identifier (e.g., IMSI, IMEI, or device ID) of the UE402 in the connection initiation request 440 that matches the device identifier contained in the saved profile. According to conventional systems, such a device identifier is already included in the connection initiation request. As another example, if the saved profile is a device class profile, the UE402 may include a class identifier of the UE402 in the connection initiation request 440 that matches the device class parameters contained in the saved profile.

UE402 may further configure connection initiation request 440 according to the saved configuration file; for example, an approval value set according to a cellular connection contained in approved profile information. For example, if the saved profile includes RACH preamble parameters with a value of 63, UE402 may include RACH preamble 63 in connection initiation request 440.

In some cases, BS404 may have received and stored the saved profile prior to receiving connection initiation request 440. For example, the BS404 may receive the saved profile via

communications

430 and 432 at about the same time that the UE402 receives the approved profile information. In some cases, the BS404 may not automatically receive the saved profile. Conversely, in response to the BS404 receiving the connection initiation request 440, the BS404 can request that the saved profile be provided to the BS404 by the MME and/or HSS (e.g., via communications 430 and 432).

In response to receiving the connection initiation request 440 and the saved profile, the BS404 may determine whether the connection initiation request 440 indicates that the UE402 is associated with the saved profile. For example, BS404 may determine that the device identifier and/or device class identifier included in connection initiation request 440 matches the device identifier and/or device class parameters included in the saved profile. If the BS404 determines that the received connection initiation request does not include a device identifier or device class identifier that matches any of the available saved profiles, the BS may respond to the received connection initiation request without regard to the saved profiles; for example according to conventional procedures. However, if the BS404 determines that the received connection initiation request includes a device identifier and/or a device class identifier that matches the saved profile, the BS may respond to the received connection initiation request with the saved profile.

Thus, in the embodiment of fig. 5, the BS404 may establish a cellular connection with the UE402 according to the saved profile in response to determining that the initiation request 440 indicates that the UE402 is associated with the saved profile; for example, the approval values for the cellular connection settings included in the approved profile information and included in the saved profile are utilized. For example, the BS404 may establish the cellular connection using a NAT session timeout value that is equal to or greater than the minimum value specified by the NAT timer parameter contained in the save configuration file. Similarly, the BS404 may establish the cellular connection using the QoS values specified in the saved profile. For example, BS404 may assign QCIs specified in a saved profile and may allocate other parameters (e.g., minimum bit rates, delay values, and/or jitter values) associated with the QCIs specified in the saved profile.

As described above, in some cases, BS404 may use the device class profile to establish a cellular connection with any device that identifies itself as belonging to the applicable device class (e.g., by including an indication of the applicable device class in the connection initiation request). Accordingly, multiple devices of the applicable device class may benefit from the UE402 negotiating the device class profile with the cellular communication network. For example, if UE402 negotiates a device class profile for the device class "watch" (e.g., by including the device class parameter having the value "watch" in the requested profile information of communication 420 and receiving the device class parameter having the value "watch" in the approved profile information of communication 426), BS404 may apply the approved value of the cellular connection setting included in the saved profile when establishing a cellular connection in response to any connection initiation request that includes the device class parameter "watch".

As described above, in some cases, the saved profile may only apply to devices belonging to the account family of the UE 402. For example, the saved profile may include device identifiers for all devices in the family of UEs 402, or for all devices in the family having the device type specified in the requested profile information. As another example, information regarding associations between devices in the account family may be stored separately from the saved profiles, and the BS404 (or other network element) may determine the account family relationship between the UE402 and the second device sending the connection initiation request in response to the BS404 receiving a session initiation request from the second device. Thus, in some cases, multiple devices in the account family (e.g., devices in the account family that have the same device class as the UE 402) may benefit from the UE402 negotiating a device profile or device class profile with the cellular communication network. For example, if the UE402 negotiates a device class profile for the device class "watch," the BS404 may use the approval values for the cellular connection settings included in the saved profile when establishing a cellular connection in response to any connection initiation request that includes the device class parameter "watch" and a device identifier for a device in the account family of the UE 402. For example, if the user 402 of the UE has a cellular-enabled second watch associated with the same cellular service plan, the second watch may benefit from the profile negotiated by the UE 402.

In some cases, UE402 may transmit the approved profile information to one or more other devices (not shown) belonging to the same device class and/or account family to which the saved profile may be applied. Thus, when establishing a cellular connection with the cellular communication network (e.g. when sending a connection initiation request), the one or more other devices may also apply the approval value of the cellular connection setting.

FIG. 6-companion device Profile Generation

In some cases, the link budget limited device may utilize the cellular functionality of the intermediary device or the proxy device. For example, a smart watch may utilize cellular functionality of a companion device such as a smartphone. Fig. 6 illustrates an example block diagram of a wireless communication system in which link budget limited devices can negotiate device class profiles and/or device profiles via a companion device. This may be beneficial, for example, in cases where the link-budget limited device is unable to communicate with the configuration server 406 via a non-cellular connection, or where the link-budget limited device may achieve further power savings by delegating negotiations to companion devices.

Fig. 6 shows a UE502, a companion device 512, a Base Station (BS) 404, a configuration server 406, a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 408, and a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 410. The UE502 may be a link budget limited device, such as the secondary wireless device 107. Companion device 512 can be an intermediary wireless communication device or a proxy wireless communication device, such as UE 106B. A Base Station (BS) 404, a configuration server 406, a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 408 and a mobility management entity 410 may be described in conjunction with fig. 5.

The UE502 may be capable of performing cellular communication via the BS 404. However, attaching to the BS404 according to legacy procedures may cause the UE502 to consume undesirable time and/or power for reasons such as those previously noted.

The UE502 may also communicate according to one or more non-cellular wireless communication protocols, such as one or more short-range or medium-range wireless communication protocols (such as Wi-Fi and/or bluetooth). In some cases, UE502 may communicate with companion device 512 according to one or more non-cellular wireless communication protocols. For example, UE502 can communicate directly with companion device 512 using a peer-to-peer non-cellular wireless communication protocol. As another example, UE502 can communicate with companion device 512 using a shared local wireless network (e.g., a shared Wi-Fi network). As another example, UE502 may communicate with companion device 512 via the internet. If UE502 communicates with companion device 512 via the Internet, security of the communication may be secured by communicating via a shared authentication account, such as shared iCloud ^TM The account communicates the communication to maintain. For example, UE502 can transmit a communication to a shared authentication account, which can forward the communication to companion device 512 because companion device 512 is authorized to access the same account. Companion device 512 may respond to UE502 in the same manner. In this way, companion device 512 can securely act as a proxy device or companion device for UE502 even if the two devices are not in close proximity.

Similar to UE402 of fig. 5, UE502 may attempt to negotiate a device profile or device class profile with a cellular communication network before sending a connection initiation request, such as MSG1, or otherwise establishing a cellular connection with the cellular communication network. To this end, UE502 may use companion device 512 as a proxy to negotiate a profile with the cellular communication network.

Specifically, at communication 518, UE502 can transmit the requested profile information to companion device 512 using a non-cellular protocol, e.g., directly or through one or more intermediate networks. The requested profile information may be described with reference to fig. 5, and may define a device profile and/or a device class profile.

In response to receiving communication 518, companion device 512 can transmit the requested profile information to provisioning server 406 at communication 520. Companion device 512 may communicate with configuration server 406 using a non-cellular protocol, either directly or through one or more intermediate networks. Alternatively or in addition, the companion device 512 communicates with the configuration server 406 using a previously established cellular connection with a cellular communication network. For example, companion device 512 may communicate with provisioning server 406 via BS 404. For example, the communication 520 may be formatted according to Schema 1 shown above.

At communication 422, provisioning server 406 may send the requested profile information, or some subset thereof, and in some cases also account family information to HSS408, as described with reference to fig. 5. In response, HSS408 may determine and save the approved profile information and may transmit it to configuration server 406 at communication 424 and to MME410 at communication 430, as described with reference to FIG. 5. At communication 432, the MME410 may communicate the approved profile information to the BS404 for establishing a cellular connection with the UE 502.

In response to configuration server 406 receiving communication 424, configuration server 406 can transmit the approved profile information, or some subset thereof, to companion device 512 at communication 526. Communication 526 may be according to a cellular protocol or a non-cellular protocol (e.g., the same protocol as used for communication 520). For example, the communication 526 may be formatted according to Schema 2 shown above.

In response to the companion device 512 receiving the communication 526, the companion device 512 can transmit the approved profile information, or some subset thereof, to the UE502 at communication 528.

Once the UE502 has received the approved profile information in communication 426, the UE402 may initiate an attach procedure to establish a cellular connection with the cellular wireless network, for example, by sending a connection initiation request 440 (MSG 1) to the BS 404. The connection initiation request 440 may be as described with reference to fig. 5. The establishment of a cellular connection with a cellular radio network, including the application of the saved profile, may also be performed as described with reference to fig. 5.

Using companion device 512 as a proxy when negotiating profiles may provide several advantages over UE402 communicating directly with configuration server 406. For example, as noted above, in some cases, the UE502 may not be able to communicate with the configuration server 406 via a non-cellular protocol. For example, the configuration server may not support communication via non-cellular protocols. Additionally, in some cases, additional power savings may be achieved by the UE502 by delegating the negotiation to the companion device 512.

In some cases, using companion device 512 as a proxy when negotiating a profile may avoid one or more future communications for UE 502. For example, in response to receiving the communication 518, the companion device can store the requested profile information. Subsequently (e.g., when companion device 512 establishes communication with a different cellular communication network), the companion device can again negotiate a profile for UE 502. In such subsequent negotiations, at least communication 518 may be omitted since the companion device has received the requested profile information.

Similarly, using companion device 512 as a proxy when negotiating profiles may avoid communication with other devices associated with companion device 512. For example, in response to receiving communication 526, companion device 512 may transmit not only the approved profile information to UE502, but also to any other related devices (not shown) to which the profile may apply. As a specific example, if the saved profile is a device class profile for a "watch" device class, the companion device may transmit approved profile information to a second device (not shown) associated with companion device 512 (e.g., in communication with companion device 512 or in the same account family) and belonging to the "watch" device class. Thus, the second device need not negotiate the profile, but can initiate a connection with the BS404 using the approved profile information. As another specific example, if the saved profile is applicable to the account family of UE502, the companion device may transmit approved profile information to one or more additional devices (not shown) belonging to the account family. Thus, one or more additional devices need not negotiate profiles, but can initiate a connection with the BS404 using approved profile information.

In some cases, companion device 512 may be able to negotiate multiple profiles in a single negotiation exchange. For example, companion device 512 may receive a second set of requested profile information from a second link budget limited device (not shown). In such embodiments, the companion device may transmit a single communication 520 to configuration server 406 that includes the requested profile information for multiple device classes or multiple groups of devices.

Exemplary embodiments

Further details regarding certain exemplary embodiments can be found in the following.

An apparatus for negotiating one or more cellular connection parameters for a cellular connection between a cellular communication network and a mobile device may include at least one processor; and a memory storing software instructions executable by the at least one processor. The software instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, may cause the apparatus to: receiving, from the mobile device, a request value for one or more cellular connection settings for a cellular connection between the cellular communication network and the mobile device prior to the cellular communication network receiving the cellular communication from the mobile device; determining an approval value for one or more cellular connection settings; transmitting, to the mobile device, an approval value for the one or more cellular connection settings prior to the cellular communication network receiving the cellular communication from the mobile device; and transmitting the approval value of the one or more cellular connection settings to a radio access network of the cellular communication network for establishing the cellular connection.

In some embodiments of the apparatus, at least one of the approval values set for the first cellular connection may be the same as the request value set for the first cellular connection. In some embodiments of the apparatus, at least one of the approval values set for the first cellular connection may be different from the request value set for the first cellular connection.

In some cases, the apparatus may be or include or be included within an HSS (such as HSS 408).

A method for establishing a cellular network connection for a link budget limited cellular communication device may be performed by a mobile device, such as companion device 512. The mobile device may receive one or more cellular connection settings from the link budget limited cellular communication device with respective requested values for cellular connections between the cellular network and the link budget limited cellular communication device. The mobile device may also send one or more cellular connection settings with corresponding requested values to the cellular network. The mobile device may also receive one or more cellular connection settings from the cellular network with corresponding request values for the cellular connection. The mobile device may also transmit one or more cellular connection settings with corresponding approval values to the link budget limited cellular communication device.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of various forms. For example, some embodiments may be implemented as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable storage medium, or a computer system. Other embodiments may be implemented using one or more custom designed hardware devices, such as ASICs. Other embodiments may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements, such as FPGAs.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium may be configured such that it stores program instructions and/or data, wherein the program instructions, if executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform a method, e.g., any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets.

In some embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., any one or more of UE106, auxiliary device 107, or a server or system shown in any figure) may be configured to include a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium, wherein the memory medium stores program instructions, wherein the processor is configured to read from the memory medium and execute the program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement a method, e.g., any of the various method embodiments described herein (or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets). The apparatus may be embodied in any of a variety of forms.

Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A network node of a cellular network, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing software instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network node to:

receiving, from a link-budget-limited cellular communication device, a request value for one or more cellular settings for a cellular connection, prior to initiating the cellular connection between the link-budget-limited cellular communication device and a base station of the cellular network;

determining an approval value for the one or more cellular settings in response to receiving the request value for the one or more cellular settings from the link budget limited cellular communication device;

transmitting the approval values for the one or more cellular settings to the link budget limited cellular communication device prior to initiating the cellular connection; and

transmitting the approval value for the one or more cellular settings to the base station of the cellular network prior to initiating the cellular connection.

2. The network node of claim 1, wherein the network node,

wherein at least one of the approval values set for the first cell is the same as the request value set for the first cell.

3. The network node of claim 1, wherein the network node,

wherein at least one of the approval values set for the first cell is different from the request value set for the first cell.

4. The network node of claim 1, wherein the network node,

wherein receiving the requested value from the link budget limited cellular communication device comprises receiving the requested value via a configuration server, and transmitting the approved value to the link budget limited cellular communication device comprises transmitting the approved value via the configuration server.

5. The network node according to claim 1, wherein,

wherein the request value is selected to increase efficiency of establishing the cellular connection.

6. The network node of claim 1, wherein the network node,

wherein receiving the requested value from the link budget limited cellular communication device and transmitting the granted value to the link budget limited cellular communication device are performed over a non-cellular connection.

7. The network node according to claim 1, wherein,

wherein receiving the requested value from the link budget limited cellular communication device and transmitting the approved value to the link budget limited cellular communication device are performed via a mobile device acting as a proxy for the link budget limited cellular communication device, the mobile device having a previously established cellular connection with the base station of the cellular network.

8. A method for establishing a cellular connection for a link budget limited cellular communication device, the method comprising:

performing, by a node of a cellular network:

receiving, from the link budget limited cellular communication device, a requested value for one or more cellular settings for the cellular connection prior to initiating a cellular connection between the link budget limited cellular communication device and a base station of the cellular network;

transmitting the approval values for the one or more cellular settings to the base station of the cellular network prior to initiating the cellular connection.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said step of,

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the first and second light sources are selected from the group consisting of,

11. The method of claim 8, wherein said step of,

wherein receiving the request value from the link budget limited cellular communication device comprises receiving the request value via a configuration server, and transmitting the approval value to the link budget limited cellular communication device comprises transmitting the approval value via the configuration server.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the first and second light sources are selected from the group consisting of,

13. The method of claim 8, wherein said step of,

14. The method of claim 8, wherein said step of,

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing software instructions executable by a processor of a network node of a cellular network to cause the network node to:

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15,

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15,

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15,

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15,

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15,

21. An apparatus comprising means for performing the method of any one of claims 8-14.